Grand Island: 2013 Relay For Life 'Going for the Gold'

The
2013 Relay For Life season began in a full sprint with a kickoff
rally Wednesday.

New
teams and veteran Relayers gathered at Grand Island High School to
award medals for 2012 and to begin the 2013 event, which will have an
Olympic theme of "Going for the Gold."

The
annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society was a
record-breaker in 2012, said Jane Dent, staff partner from the
American Cancer Society, with $163,000 raised. Relay Co-chair Candy
Mye praised the GI teams because they not only surpassed the old
record high total, "but knocked it out of the ballpark" by
$40,000.

This
year marks the 11th Relay on GI, Dent said, and during that time GI
has raised $1,090,784, a milestone reached by only three Relays in
WNY.

Relay
2013 Co-chairs Becky Sommer-Stufkosky and Lynn Dingey unfurled a
banner noting GI was also honored as a Top 20 Relay in New York/New
Jersey, from among 370 Relay events in the region. Dent called the
achievement, for a town of 20,000, a "very distinctive honor."

Mye
said the area is a smaller community, that lacks in population, but,
"What we have is the heart, what we have is the spirit that gets us
where we go. I can't tell you how much it means to know that you're
all here tonight, and that you'll spread the word that we're
still going strong even though we're going to be in a new
location."

GIHS's
capital project will necessitate a move from the 10-year home of the
event at Masters Field to Veterans Park this year. The GI Relay For
Life will take place Saturday, June 8, and Sunday, June 9, from 2
p.m. to 6 a.m. with opening ceremonies at 6 p.m., a luminaria
ceremony at 10 p.m., and closing ceremony at 5:30 a.m. Sunday.

"She's
inspired me every day I see her at work," Dudley said. "She's
an inspiration to all. Her strength and passion and endurance,
positive out look and sense of humor shine a light on everyone she
comes into contact with. She has been our team captain for several
years, and last year we raised over $20,000. Besides going through
her own battles, she takes care of her family members, and she's
friends to everyone at work."